Crimes Against Fanfiction
by whoeverIamloves
Summary: Cliche #1: I swore I'd never do it. Cliche #2: I'm doing it. A bit crack, simply for the genre. So I found this cool ring at the flea market...And suddenly I'm gonna get to hang out with my favorite Copy Ninja and his genin. I hope.
1. The Deal

Cliche #1: I swore I'd never do it. (See the title of the fic.)

Cliche #2: I'm doing it.

Cliche #3+: I'm sure you'll figure them out.

Disclaimers: I don't own any part of the Naruto Universe; given the chance described in this fic I would take it in a heartbeat, but alas, the ring is real but its powers are not.

* * *

Flea markets are great.

I've always loved rummaging through the booths of old stuff, new stuff, cheap knockoff gadgets and knives, and rejected yard sale items. But I rarely buy anything, except maybe the occasional decorative blade, an old N64 game, or (more often) costume jewelry from the outlet store.

So when I found a cool-looking ring (two copper snakes twisting around each other with glass crystals for eyes) at the jewelry booth for only a dollar, I thought nothing of it. I paid the dollar and slipped it on, and promptly forgot about it except to twist it on my finger occasionally for something to fidget with.

I didn't remember it until I went to sleep.

My dreams are something of a legend among my friends. Not to brag, but seriously, when you dream about going on adventures like swimming with whales, and being a vigilante in an all-girls' band of rogue capoeira fighters (look it up), and being backstage with a co-star (a classmate from high school in real life) who happens to be a jack (as in a deck of cards) and you're the queen (also of a deck of cards) and "need" to practice for the upcoming kissing scene, and negotiating your work schedule with your boss while in a burning building and missing a leg, well, you get a reputation.

I shit you not. I have truly dreamed all these things. And people have finally (somehow) stopped asking me what I smoke. Because I don't.

So when I found myself in a blank white room, I didn't think it all that odd. I'm not usually a lucid dreamer, in the sense that I'm not really able to identify that I'm dreaming until after the fact, let alone control my dreams, but I'm also a fairly laid-back person and my dreams rarely freak me out. I'm used to going with the flow and seeing what exciting adventure is coming down the pike.

The room was empty except for myself. I looked down to see myself wearing the same clothes I'd worn during the day- jeans and a roller coaster t-shirt with flats, and I could feel my short hair pinned back in its usual daytime clips. Okay, sure. So I hadn't gone to bed like I thought. Whatever.

I was also still wearing the ring. I looked at it more closely now than I had before. It was two snakes, as I thought, and it had a total of 6 supposed "crystals" in it. There were four small black ones functioning as decorative eyes on the elaborately molded little snakes, and two slightly larger clear ones (probably intended to look like diamonds) in the space between the two heads and two tails. Overall, I decided I'd spent a good dollar.

As I stared at it, and as I brushed my opposite thumb over the little faces repeatedly, the ring grew heavy. By the time I noticed it, there was a green mist swirling out of the two clear crystals. I felt my eyebrows rise, but I watched with more curiosity than anything else. After all, this was nothing too abnormal for one of my dreams. Yet.

The mist congregated in front of me in a blob, then began to elongate into the shape of a torso. My eyes grew wider, and I caught myself actually laughing.

A genie in a ring? My friends were never going to believe this dream. I better make sure to write it down as soon as possible.

Once the genie was fully formed, we stared at each other. He crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating, and I grinned stupidly at the magical creature, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, I wet my lips and decided to try.

"Hello," I said, still grinning. I should probably stop that.

"Hello," he returned, still staring me down.

"So...do I get three wishes?"

He blinked slowly. He must get that question all the freakin time. "No," he said.

Now it was my turn to blink. "Okay...what do I get?"

"You get one wish."

I tried not to pout. Just one? I'd better make it good. No "accidental" wishes like people make in cliche genie movies. And I'd better think through all the consequences before saying the magic phrase.

"Just one?"

He nodded once, silently.

"Can it be anything at all?"

He finally changed expression. Barely. "It can be an experience."

Interesting stipulation. What if I wished for the experience of being a billionaire for the rest of my life?

He anticipated my thoughts and interrupted them, though it was clearly annoying to him to have to explain the rules. Of course I'd get a grumpy genie. Just my luck.

"You cannot wish for a lasting change. You cannot wish for material possessions. You cannot wish for something on another's behalf."

I considered his words when he fell silent once again. The rules seemed pretty tight...I guessed I probably wasn't going to suddenly become independently wealthy or find my one true happily-ever-after love story.

So that left me with the choice of an experience. What kind of experience? A vacation? A learning experience? A chance to talk with anyone in the world?

An image flashed through my head. _Anyone..._

"Does it have to be possible by the known laws of physics?" I asked.

"I am not bound by time and space."

_Apparently you are, if you can't give me anything that lasts,_ I almost said, but then decided not to piss him off or I might not even get my one wish.

I chose my next words carefully. "So...IF I were to decide on a temporary visit to another universe- another plane of existence in a world that doesn't actually exist, according to the known laws of my world...would that be possible?"

The genie continued to look bored. "It would."

I bit my lip, already grinning again. _Think it through! Stipulations, consequences...everything! Phrase it just right!_

"And IF I were to choose to visit that place, would there be a time limit?"

"There would."

"And if I chose to visit that place, could I choose the situation?"

The genie's lips tightened. "You could."

"And IF I chose to visit that place, would I go...would I go as myself? Or would I go as someone who already lived there?"

The genie's eyebrow twitched slightly. He probably wasn't used to people searching for loopholes like this.

"You would enter the body of another."

That could cause some problems for whoever I took over. Hmm.

"If I did that, what would..." I changed my wording, not wanting to give the genie free reign. That always ended badly except in Disney movies. "Would I be able to return to my body within 5 minutes of having left it, according to the linear timeline of my own universe?"

The genie was definitely scowling now.

"You would."

"And once I was in the other world, would I have the same cultural knowledge as a person born into that world-I mean, as the person whose body I would...enter?"

"You would have that person's memories and experiences in addition to your own."

"What would be the time limit, if I chose this experience?"

"I cannot tell you until you make the wish."

There's the fine print, I guess.

I reviewed in my mind the information he'd given me. I knew what I wanted, it was just a matter of how to phrase it in such a way that nothing would go too horribly wrong for me or for the people I wanted to visit.

I had plenty of dream vacation destinations, sure. But I could probably accomplish most of those on my own at some point before I died. And as much as I wanted the experience of finding a permanent job in my field (having just finished grad school and being up to my eyeballs in student debt), he'd ruled out the possibility of any lasting change. And as for other, more personal experiences...well, I've never been one for meaningless sex, and my recent hobby of watching Naruto and writing fanfiction for it had pretty much been my escape from the social scene. All my school friends had already moved away to start their career searches, and I was not really in the market for new friends since I'd be moving away soon as well.

I took a deep breath. "I will now summarize my understanding of one possible scenario," I said. The genie just stared at me, so I pressed forward, using the most specific words I could think of in the most limiting grammar I knew, thankful for my many years of formally studying the grammar of my native language and practicing academic writing.

"It would be possible, if I so stipulated, to send me into the canon Naruto universe as created by Masashi Kishimoto, into the body of the pretty, romantically uninvolved, young adult daughter of a man who requested a moderately dangerous long-term mission, where the mission is fulfilled by Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke; wherein I would have all the cultural knowledge and memories of the woman whose body I was in as well as my own; after the completion of which I would return to my own body in my own world within 5 minutes of having left it according to the linear timeline of my universe and remember the experience; and guaranteeing that none of the protagonists or myself will die in either world. Is that correct?"

The genie hesitated, then nodded once.

I grinned. "Then that is precisely the experience that I wish for."

"So be it," he said with finality, then showed a hint of a smirk. I tensed, thinking I had already won.

"Now I will tell you the other restrictions," he said. "Your full possible amount of time is 6 months in the other universe. If you are killed before that, you will not die. You will return to your own universe and the woman whose body you occupy will be returned to awareness from that moment forward.

You will have your own memories, but only what you know of the timeline of that universe up until the point where you are inserted."

"So I'll know everything I currently know about...about the characters' pasts? Just not their futures?"

The genie nodded once again.

I'd hoped to go into the experience knowing everything about the whole canon storyline, but oh well. I would still get to meet adult Kakashi. For real. For possibly an extended period of time.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"You will be there for either the duration of the mission or 6 months if the mission is incomplete by that time. If the mission is failed outright, then you will not return until you would die in that world."

"I thought I stipulated-"

"The death would not be of a major character. You would have lived the woman's life for her, so her death would be yours instead, except that you would not die. You would simply return to your world." Did he look a little smug as he said that?

It was my turn to frown. So there was a possibility I could become trapped there, despite my fancy footwork. Damn. And a possibility I could kill the woman whose body I was going to borrow. Double damn.

"You will awake into the experience you have wished for yourself."

I started to shout out something like "wait!" or "stop!" or another question, but before I could even think of what else I should ask, he had dissolved into the green smoke once again and spiraled around my body, then "fwipped" back into the ring on my hand, and I felt a burning sensation start in the center of my body and the bland white room began to spin.

I was passing out.

* * *

I have a few funny moments rolling around in my head that started this whole thing, and I'm not really sure what's going to happen from here. Apart from those moments...I guess I'm just going to have to come up with a suitable mission, and then keep everybody (including myself-what the heck am I thinking?) in character. Let the characters decide how it goes.

Yeah, that usually works for me...

Thoughts? (Please don't flame. If ever a topic deserved it, it might be self-insert, but if you're still with me by now I hope that means you're not horribly opposed to this genre.)


	2. Seka Ogawa

I didn't forget about this one, see? Or about my others.

I'm still trying to find a voice that isn't too annoying for this fic, and hopefully somewhat amusing. Please let me know what you think, or if you have suggestions. I'm also still figuring out the storyline, but I do have some ideas where I want to go with it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. (I'd totally visit though.)

* * *

I woke up in a fog.

Not a literal fog; birds were singing outside and I couldn't hear the normal street traffic outside my window. My head wanted to stay asleep, and my body was still so relaxed…all I wanted was to snuggle back down into my cozy, hard bed.

Hard bed?

Floor?

WTF?

As soon as I opened my eyes and looked around me, I remembered something about waking up in a different place. A moment after that, the details of my talk with Mr. Grumpy-Tail came rushing back and I suddenly knew why I was on the floor.

I was in a traditional Japanese setting. I'd entered my favorite storyline.

I looked around the lightly furnished room for a mirror, but found none. The damn genie really had no desire to cater to my whims, did he? There was a closet/armoire thing with a fairly shiny surface, though, so I stood up to see what I looked like in this world. Whose body was I driving?

Whoever she was, she was graceful. It felt way more natural than it should have for me to get up off the floor in one fluid motion. I looked in the mirror and saw why.

She was slender with the perfect amount of curve. Her chest and hips were narrower than my own, but she (I?) still had enough to fill out a nice dress, if we were so inclined. I was also pleased to note that if I were now animated, I couldn't tell it. To my borrowed eyes, everything looked as real as my own world looked to my own body's eyes.

Kakashi! That thought reminded me. Kakashi would be coming! And he would have…he would be _tangible._ Not some imaginary pencil-drawn character on the other side of a screen, but an actual human being.

There was no time to waste. I quickly went to where I (somehow) knew the young woman kept her day to day clothing, which was all in the Japanese style. I let her body's habits take over in getting dressed as I searched my (her?) memories to see who I should be impersonating.

The first thing I called to mind was her (my?) name. Seka Ogawa. I was the daughter of an important man in the town, a Mr. Ogawa; I had a little brother named Shodi who mostly lived with my aunt a couple of towns away. I was 25; he was now 13. Mother had died giving birth to him and Father had been unable to bring himself to take care of the baby. (Really genie? Such a cliché tragedy?)

I didn't know much about my father's business except that it took up a lot of his time. He was a man who loved to laugh, but the young woman whose body I was borrowing was afraid of his temper. Fortunately, it rarely came out, and never when she was around. She'd only heard rumors.

Seka ignored most of the rumors. I found plenty of items in her memories that made me wonder what kind of business he was in; how he'd acquired it; why everyone in town always deferred to him. Why there were always guys in and out of the house.

My hostess had never asked. She'd intentionally avoided thinking about these things, and simply played the part of the good daughter, serving tea and taking care of the household ever since she'd become the lady of the house at the ripe old age of 12. (Dang, Genie. Heartstrings much?)

I felt for her. No kid should have to take on so much responsibility.

Responsibility! With guests coming, I'd be the one expected to welcome them with warm hospitality in all the functional ways, like good meals and welcoming sleeping quarters. Fortunately, those are things I really love doing, to the point that my house has a bit of a reputation among my friends.

The house had a few maids, but the hell if I was going to let them have all the fun of preparing for these particular guests! I had to get going – there were meals to plan, groceries to buy, beds to make, and conversations to practice for!

Just as I slid my feet into the house-sandals by the door, a girl's voice surprised me from just outside the door. "Miss Seka," she said softly. It was one of the maids.

"Good morning, Rika-chan," I answered. It felt weird to hear my words in Seka's voice.

"Your father wishes to speak to you in his study."

"I understand. Thank you."

Was Seka always this formal with her servants? I'd have to think about it more later. Right now, I apparently had a very important meeting to attend, and I was glad I was already dressed for the day's work.

I knew today was the day Kakashi and Team 7 would be arriving, but as I quickly reviewed Seka's knowledge, she had only been told that "help" was arriving today. Her father mentioned a week ago in passing that he was hiring some consultants, as he'd called them, and told her yesterday that they were on their way and to expect them this evening.

I was going to have to keep my trap shut. Oh man, if I accidentally let anything slip that I wasn't supposed to know, especially this early in my wish…well, I just wouldn't. My dad always told me that silence is the better part of wisdom, and I've found it to be true so far. As I padded softly toward the wing of the house where my father conducted all his business, I resolved to think about every single word before it came out of my mouth, the entire time I was in this universe. Starting now.

"Seka, come in," my father (well, Seka's father, technically) answered when I knelt outside his study. I slid the door open silently and went into the room, then knelt in front of where he sat on cushions surrounded by paperwork. I tried not to let my inner Westerner stare at the non-desk, very traditional "office" as I waited for him to say why he'd called me.

"The help I've hired should arrive today," he said finally. "I think I should tell you, they're shinobi."

I tried to keep my face blank of excitement. "H-hai," I said. Should I be looking surprised? Just because I had known that Kakashi and his team would be coming didn't mean Seka would have known. Her father had told her that he was "hiring some consultants," but hadn't said what kind.

"There's no need to be afraid of them, Seka-chan," he said in a gentler voice than Seka was used to hearing from him. Huh? Apparently my stony-faced act was making him think the exact opposite of what was true. Oops. (Or not oops? This could be a good thing, maybe…)

I relaxed my expression into a small smile. "Of course, Papa."

He sat back in his chair. "I'll be instructing them to keep out of your way, but I also want you to keep out of their way. Grown men who are in the… well, who are in their profession, are not the most gentle or honorable of people."

This could be difficult. The one I really wanted to hang out with was the only grown man in the group. But more importantly, what would Seka's father think when 3 tweens showed up as 75% of the team he'd hired? And what the hell did he mean, insulting shinobi when he constantly had his own (probable) goons in and out of our house all the time?

I nodded. "I'll be careful around them."

"Good. Secondarily to that, I expect you to ensure that they are as comfortable and welcome as possible. I don't want them wandering off or slacking on their job because they find our hospitality lacking in any way."

I felt myself bristle on Seka's behalf as well as my own. I personally have always prided myself on my hospitality and good cooking, and a quick rifle through Seka's memories told me that was something we had in common. She'd risen to her duties as the young lady of the house with great dignity and determination, and her understanding of the Japanese language her father was using would offend her greatly if she was conscious to hear it for herself.

He must have seen my offendedness, because he smiled. "Don't misunderstand me. I anticipate no reason for complaints from them on your end. I'm only reminding you because I've heard stories of how people in their profession can be."

"I'll do my best," I answered, still feeling a little insulted on both Seka's and Kakashi's behalf. "Wh…"

I cut myself off. I'd already almost blown my new resolution to think carefully before speaking! I was dying to ask why they were coming if he didn't trust "that type," but it would be really out of character for her to ask something like that. I definitely didn't want her father keeping a close eye on me if he thought his daughter was going to start prying into his business. "How long will they be here?" I asked when he raised his eyebrow at me.

"Two months." My stomach dropped. Only 2 months? The genie had said I'd have up to 6 months! "They will be functioning as security for the festival next month, and will leave one week after it finishes."

The summer festival. Several memories from Seka's past flooded into my mind. The festival was unique to our town and lasted for 2 weeks. Months of preparation went into it, and everyone loved it because it was something we created for ourselves. It reminded me of a county fair, Japanese traditional style. The memories that were the strongest, though, were of Seka with her mother when she was a child. Her father had gone with her after her mother passed away, but he never "oohed" and "ahhed" with her at the beautiful decorations and sights and smells and tastes the way her mother had.

It made sense for him to be the one to hire extra security for it. He was essentially the closest thing our town had to an actual mayor or chief, because the actual leader of the town always went along with whatever he said. Which was another fishy matter, but one for a different time.

I was dying to ask why he was hiring shinobi this year and why they would be staying with us, but "why" would be a very unusual question coming from Seka. Sure, people came from miles around for the festival, but there hadn't been any major mishaps in recent years or anything. I'd have to do a little more thinking on that. Was there actually danger for Seka/myself? And could I chat about it with Kakashi?

"That's all," Seka's father said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded and stood to go. I was excited to begin my preparations.

. . .

Most of the preparations went by in a haze. For meals, I searched my memory for anything I could remember about any of the characters' favorite foods, but could only remember Naruto's fondness for ramen. In lieu of that, I tried to think of what foods were traditional and would be sure to make anyone feel at home, according to my host body's memories. I instructed the maids to go buy ingredients for a couple of those meals, plus ramen (just in case the opportunity arose).

For sleeping arrangements, while 2 of the maids were off to the market, another girl helped me set up 2 rooms. Mr. Ogawa (dang, I should really start thinking of him as "Father" to avoid slip-ups in my speech) had told me how many "consultants" to expect, but not ages or genders –probably because he didn't even know. When I designated 2 rooms for their stay, the maid's funny expression reminded me that I shouldn't know that all the shinobi couldn't sleep in a single room. Gah, this thinking thing!

"Well, we've certainly got the space for them to make themselves comfortable," I pointed out, hoping it sounded offhanded. I had planned to set up 3 beds in one room and 1 in the other, considering there were to be 3 males and 1 female, but since I wasn't supposed to know that yet, we just set up 2 per room. I'd move one of the pallets later after we found out that Sakura was with them.

As the afternoon stretched toward evening, I set the maids to the last few tasks of preparing dinner—something simple that would stay warm well in case the team arrived late—and returned to my room. I'd do a large part of the cooking once the initial "welcoming" stage of the ninjas' stay was over and the maids were back to their normal duties, but tonight I had to prepare my own mind first and foremost.

I debated long and hard about what to wear. I've never been one for much primping, but Seka was at least moderately girly and I very much wanted to impress a certain jonin. I tried on all her clothes, thinking along the way that it was also good practice for me at getting dressed in this style of clothing, until I found a particular deep green kimono with soft lavender details that my hostess considered too dressy to be casual and too casual to be formal. I thought it was beautiful, and I tied it slightly tighter around my waist than she usually did, and left it slightly looser around the top. It was still perfectly modest, but I hoped it would draw more attention to my new body's perfect curves.

I also practiced my greetings. I ran over the traditional greetings in my head, drawing from my hostess's memories until I had memorized the right phrases and honorifics for myself, and practiced the small curtsy-ish bow that would go with them. All day I'd been a bit slow in speaking to the maids because I'd had to spend a moment translating between the two languages floating around in my head (I had to make absolutely sure the words were the right language, after all) and I hoped I hadn't offended the maids by seeming a bit stand-offish. But tonight I wanted to show how very happy I was that my guests had arrived.

That meant chop chop on learning the greetings, because the team could arrive any moment.

* * *

I'm very curious to know what aspects of this you find to be funny or annoying or intriguing. Please let me know in a review, and thanks for reading! Next time: Kakashi &amp; Team 7 Arrive!


	3. Team 7

Hey guys, it's **NaNoWriMo!** I'm committing to do SOMETHING related to fiction writing each day this month. I doubt it'll be this story every day, but this will probably get a good amount of my attention, and a couple of my other in-progress stories might as well. :)

I'm not sure I'm entirely pleased with this chapter, but maybe you can let me know what works and what doesn't. (Summary of who's who at the bottom of this chapter.)

Disclaimer: I still own no part of the Naruto universe.

* * *

Father was not pleased.

I could see how tense he was by how motionless he was standing. Kakashi's team was still a long way off, but we could see them on the horizon. There was one tall person with a white speck at the top (which I knew to be Kakashi and his hair), and 3 short, child-sized people.

I could only imagine what Mr. Ogawa must be thinking based on Seka's knowledge and my own brief interactions with the man. He was probably feeling insulted; maybe a little bit cheated because he'd probably paid for 4 full-fledged shinobi. He might also be worrying about the job getting done, and was probably already forming a back-up plan in his mind.

He was probably revving up to tear somebody a new one. (At this point I thanked the genie that Seka only ever heard about his temper and never actually saw it.)

If it wasn't for me, though, would he have gotten a different team? An older, more experienced team? I glanced back at the 3 young ninjas drawing slowly closer. What if they wouldn't have been assigned to this mission originally if it weren't for my wish? I'd stipulated that I wanted this wish to involve a "moderately dangerous mission"—would the genie have applied that to the original mission, if it was being fulfilled by jounin? Or would my intended meaning of "moderately dangerous for a genin team" have been used? Shit. Shit-shit-shit.

But all I could do now was make the best of it and hope for the best. And develop Seka's womanly wiles to help them complete their mission safely. Starting…now.

"Father," I said softly, hoping to head off some of the animosity before they could arrive.

Danger or not, the last thing I wanted was for him to send them home. (After all, my grump-in-a-ring did say that no major characters would die, right?)

"Seka, go inside," he answered.

I had to obey, or it would be very out of character of me. I wasn't even supposed to be out here, because their arrival was technically part of "father's business;" I'd just kind of invited myself and hoped it would be ok because they were also houseguests.

I gave a small, formal bow. "Hai," I said. "But Father, please, we should invite them to eat and rest before you turn them away."

He turned to look at me, surprised, and I wracked my brain—no, Seka's brain—for something to say to explain myself. Not the "Golden Rule," nothing about my silly crush on the tallest of the 4, nothing Western…say something very Japanese, dammit!

"Their dishonor, if it is such, should not be ours as well," I said matter-of-factly, hoping it would sound like a proverb or some other kind of age-old wisdom. Because it felt frickin' awkward. "And we ought to jump to reason before conclusions."

_Hear them out!_ I wanted to shout, but this gentle nudge was already much bolder than Seka usually was. I turned quickly and went back into the house. I didn't want to give him time to react to me; I wanted him to have to react to my words while facing Kakashi.

I almost chuckled. Poor Father, facing Kakashi. What was I even worried about?

Oh crap. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all. Did I just go out of character for no reason? My smile fell as I began to dish up the rice. I'd have to be on my best behavior for the rest of the night, and probably tomorrow too.

"Rika-chan, please go move one of the pallets in the guest rooms. We'll need one in one room and three in the other."

As soon as I finished saying it, I thought about how that might sound to the uninformed young maid. Best behavior, had I said? That was supposed to include thinking before I spoke! "One of the guests is female," I tried to add, but she was already gone.

I'd have to get better at that, pronto.

And I'd have to quit being so damn indecisive, second- and third-guessing my every move. Plan ahead. Don't look back. Yeah.

I was just putting the last dish on the table when my father's right-hand man, Kino, ushered the three genin into the dining area. I looked around behind him to see if Kakashi and Father were coming, but he shook his head.

"Ogawa-san said not to wait. He wishes to dine with the captain privately in his study."

I tried not to pout. I really wanted to meet Kakashi tonight! I hadn't even gotten a close-up look at him yet! But maybe, if I delivered the food myself…

…I went back to pouting immediately. It would be bad form for me to leave these three guests, and it would definitely irritate Father. His rule was that I was never to be nearby when he was doing business, and I'd already blown that once tonight. Twice would be a problem I didn't want to deal with. Besides, this way I could chat with the title character and his two closest friends. Maybe that wasn't so bad, after all. (And I was already improving my "think-then-speak" track record, right?)

"Tamae-san," I said to the other maid on duty, snapping back to my immediate surroundings. "Would you mind taking care of that? Have Rika-chan help you when she finishes her current task."

The older woman gave a bow as her only answer and set to her task as I turned to welcome my guests. We introduced ourselves briefly and I invited them and Kino to sit, and after a few minutes and a chorus of "itadaki-maaaaas," we were all eating.

Now, I once had a roommate who could make anyone feel at ease. She had a way of always knowing what to say, to whom, at what exact moment in order to put everyone at ease and keep a conversation flowing gracefully. At this particular moment, I wished I had more in common with her than a torrid love of sci-fi action novels.

What the heck do you say to a handful of awkward tweens who are farther along in their careers than you are?

For all their accomplishments, though, they looked like normal kids. Fleshed out and solid, like a really amazing piece of hyper-realistic fanart. Naruto's hair looked soft and thick, Sasuke's looked coarse and spiky, and Sakura's looked light and natural despite being a gentle shade of pink. All three forehead protectors looked durable and surprisingly understated, with the steel plate bearing the Konoha symbol looking clean but not too shiny. Sakura's eyes were still bright green, Naruto's bright blue, and Sasuke's so dark they looked black. Sakura and Sasuke were pale and Naruto was tan. All three of them looked lean and athletic, if a bit wiry.

But I couldn't be just a fly on the wall here! They were not fanart; not something to be watched or studied. They were here and I was here and I was the hostess and I needed to interact with them or it would be very rude and uncomfortable!

None of them seemed to notice the awkwardness I was feeling. They must have had a hard trip, the way they were each so focused on their food. Or maybe they _were_ feeling the awkwardness? Ninja tweens would have to be better than normal tweens at hiding their thoughts, right?

Or maybe this was too much thinking before speaking.

I looked at Naruto, who was scarfing his dinner with a passion. Nope, they were definitely just hungry. I smiled.

"You all must have had a long journey," I ventured. "Was it very hard?"

"Not really," Naruto answered before his mouth was quite empty.

I saw a slight movement from Sakura and then he jumped, glancing at her. "Manners," she hissed at him. I pretended not to realize that she had kicked him under the table, and especially not to find it amusing.

Sasuke answered while Naruto quickly finished chewing. "It was nothing we couldn't handle," he offered in a voice surprisingly deep for a 12 year old. No wonder Sakura and the other girls thought he was so suave.

"I'm glad to hear it," I said. What to ask next? What could I ask next, without starting to feel like an interrogation? (Note to self: Never interrogate a ninja. Even the small ones probably have more experience.)

"Nothing we haven't dealt with before!" Naruto had apparently finished his bite, and with the edge knocked off his appetite, was now turning chatty.

I smiled. "Oh?" I asked, taking another bite.

"There were a few bandits that were stupid enough to attack us, and of course Kakashi-sensei doesn't like to take any breaks but we're used to that, and it always—"

"You're talking too much," Sasuke muttered with a pointed glare at Naruto. The blond snapped his mouth shut and returned the glare, distracted from whatever he had been about to say. I made a point to smile with amusement so that I wouldn't seem like I was trying to glean information.

Sakura straightened up. "Seka-san, what can you tell us about the festival? Have you been to it before?" she asked with a slight blush. The boys continued their impromptu glaring contest, but she was self-consciously ignoring them.

_Thank you Sakura!_ I followed her lead. "I go every year," I told her. "It's a celebration unique to our village. It started when my parent's generation were children." I rifled through Seka's memories a little more and continued as quickly as I could organize the right words in the right language. "Officially, it's a festival in honor of the yellow morning glories that only seem to grow here. There are always lots of things to see and do, like delicious food, party games, a beauty pageant for the women, athletic competitions for the men…" I looked around to see three sets of eyes now fixed on me. Kino was listening politely but with much more of his focus devoted to his dinner.

"Competitions? Like what?" Naruto asked when I trailed off. _Of course he wants to know. He probably wants to enter. _I smiled to buy myself more time to think.

"Well, I've never paid much attention to them, but I think there are some different sports, like a foot-race, and a strength match, and a construction challenge, and a couple of team events that I don't really understand."

"I'm gonna enter them all and win all the prizes! Hey, Seka-san, what are the prizes?"

"How are you going to enter the team competitions?" Sasuke interjected in a bored tone, though a slight reduction in his scowl betrayed his interest. "You don't have a sports team."

"Duh, I'll use my kage bunshin no jutsu! A whole team of only ME!"

"Well, that'll definitely give _somebody's_ team an easy win," Sasuke smirked.

"Hmm, I don't think shinobi have ever entered before," I said before Naruto realized how gracefully he'd been insulted. And was it a good idea to let him get his hopes up? After all, Father probably didn't hire them to come enjoy the festival…and how the heck was Kakashi's meeting with my father going, anyway? _If it's going badly, they might not even be sticking around for the festival_. I chopsticked a big lump of rice into my mouth.

Sakura was much more direct in her discouragement. "And I'm pretty sure that would be cheating," she said flatly. "And besides, even if we entered as a team, we'd have an unfair advantage over everyone else because we're shinobi."

"I'm sure you would, at least in the speed and strength events," I said once I had swallowed, trying not to think about how the conversation might be going in Seka's father's study. Right. Focusing on here and now. Thinking before speaking.

The conversation went on like that for several more minutes, with me giving them information from Seka's memories and wondering at what point that becomes a violation of her confidence. Not that she ever actually told me any of it, in confidence or otherwise…and did that make it better or worse for me to give them stories from her memory? And what the hell were Kakashi and Mr. Ogawa talking about for so long?!

The topic eventually turned back to Team 7, and I tried hard to NOT sound like I was eager to find out what their actual mission was. Or was supposed to be.

Finally, after a lengthy discussion of a few possible (but highly improbable) competitions that Naruto would have a good shot at winning (like breath-holding—Sakura's suggestion, ramen-eating—Naruto's suggestion, and hand-stabbing—Sasuke's suggestion), Sasuke finally pointed out that they were here for a mission and would likely be too busy to participate in any of the competitions.

_Thank you!_ Finally, someone was stating the obvious.

On the outside, I just smiled and waited for one of the other two to answer him. Kino glanced up from his nearly-empty bowl just long enough for me to notice that he was noticing. Did he know why they were really here? A brief memory of Seka's flashed through my mind of a conversation she'd overheard by accident. Something about the festival, and special arrangements for…something…

But now wasn't the time. Not when Father's right-hand man was here supervising our conversation, and might notice my (Seka's?) odd behavior if I spaced out to think too much (again). Especially after my oddness earlier in the evening.

"…to give us more information," Naruto was grumbling. Damn! I missed it! Thinking about not thinking is definitely too much thinking!

"That's all we ever get told, though," Sakura pointed out. "You know that."

So they didn't know either? Was that all I missed?

Sasuke gave each of his teammates a Look. "This is not the time to be discussing it."

Sakura snapped her mouth shut and turned a little pinker, and Naruto tried to think of something witty to say but apparently came up empty. Kino, though he seemed to still be focused on finishing his meal, seemed to be hiding either a mildly impressed expression or a slightly disappointed one that mirrored my own feelings. It was hard to tell, even for Seka. Maybe it was both?

"Can I get anybody another helping?" I asked, but everyone seemed content. (It probably had to do with the fact that I'd given everyone humongous first helpings.)

Now what? After-dinner activities or chatting would be appropriate if this was a social call, or if we weren't being babysat by Kino, but as it was, I should probably just call it a night. After all, they'd had a long journey and they would (hopefully) be around for a couple of months.

I stood up, again surprised at how graceful Seka (I?) was.

"I'm sure you're all very tired. I'll show you to where you'll be staying." Naruto perked up at this, clearly more tired than he'd realized.

It was adorable.

They followed me out of the kitchen with Kino silently bringing up the rear. (Awkward much?) If I hadn't felt babysat before, now it was definitely tense. Were they used to being escorted like prisoners? Was it not really that extreme, and I was just overanalyzing things again?

It felt like a long time before we reached the wing of the house where they'd be sleeping. Geez, the Ogawa compound really did feel like a mansion, especially at night.

I narrated quietly as we walked so that it wouldn't be any more awkward than I already felt, pointing out the hallways that led to the east and west entrances of the house, the small inner courtyard/garden type area, the bath house (for actual baths), and the bathroom (for, you know, normal bathroom stuff).

Finally we arrived at the two guest rooms that the maid and I had set up earlier in the day. They were directly across the hall from each other. I slid open the rice paper door to one of the rooms, the one that opened on the other side to the inner garden, to find a single bedroll inside.

_Yes!_ Of course from Seka's sense of propriety, I knew that it was probably because a girl's room should not open to the outside yard. All I cared about, though, was the fact that it meant the guys' room DID open to the outer garden, which meant Kakashi could easily have the run of the place in secret.

"Sakura-san, this will be your room." I moved aside to let them all look in. "Naruto-san and Sasuke-san, this room is for you and your captain," I told them as I slid the door open to the opposite room. "Please make yourselves at home. If there's anything you need…" I deliberately avoided glancing at Kino, who was still standing silent (but thankfully relaxed) a few yards away, and changed what I was going to say. "If you need anything, the cord in the corner will summon one of the maids. Breakfast is usually at 7, but that can be very flexible according to your work."

"Thank you," Sasuke said at the same time Sakura said, "Thank you, Seka-san." Naruto was a little slower in speaking up, but he added a quick "yeah, thanks!" just before a pointed glare would have settled on Sakura's face.

I smiled. "No problem. Let's see, what else? I'll send some tea back here in a few minutes, and then I'll leave you to get some rest."

They all nodded. Once both of their doors slid closed, I headed back toward the kitchen with Kino at my side.

. . .

When I got back to the kitchen, the older maid (Tamae, that was her name!) was there putting the extra food away.

"Seitaro-san, would you care for any more dinner?" I asked Kino. I should probably start thinking of them with the names Seka always used to address them, but it felt so strange!

"No thanks. The first round was perfect, just like always, Seka-san," he said. "And I've got a couple of things to do before I call it a night. Thanks for having me."

I smiled. "Anytime." _I just wish I wasn't obviously being baby-sat, but whatever._ At least Kino was always polite to Seka, even if he wasn't all that interesting to her. Probably something to do with her father's protectiveness.

Seitaro Kino was becoming a little bit interesting to me, though, now that I didn't have Team 7 to devote my attention to. How often did he join the family for dinner? How much of Father's business did he actually know? Did he do any of Father's dirty work? (Oh damn, now Seka's subconscious was confirming that Mr. Ogawa had dirty work!) And- my mouth went dry when I thought this- what were the chances that Father would offer his daughter in marriage to his right-hand man to keep the family business in the family?

He turned back just as he reached the door. "Honami-san is taking the tea," he said mildly, but we all knew that it was more than a request. It was clearly a reminder about Father's rule that I was not to be alone with those evil shinobi, and with Kino not there, well, that left Honami Tamae as the only one that _was_ allowed. Lucky old lady.

"Of course," I answered just as mildly. Tamae looked at me out of the corner of her eye, but didn't say anything as I began to set a tray.

I really wanted to help her take the tea. And I really really wanted to whisper to Sasuke (because let's be honest, Naruto was probably already asleep and Sakura was in another room) that I wanted to rendezvous with their captain.

Seka's better judgment was what stopped me. Aside from being debatably inappropriate to whisper such a thing to a 12-year-old and hazardous to my (and Seka's) freedom if Tamae realized it, it was also Kakashi's first night here after a long day of travel and a tedious customer-relations conversation with Mr. Ogawa.

He would definitely be tired.

It would make me a very inconsiderate hostess to ask anything else of him, especially so late at night. But tomorrow night, woo buddy. I was going to have to plan something to talk about, because I really needed a legitimate reason to have a chat with him. A real chat. With a real, live-action Jounin named Kakashi.

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And now, because I hate when there are a ton of random characters floating around, here's a summary to help you keep it straight:

Maids: Namiki Rika - newest maid, probably only a little older than Team 7.

Honami Tamae - older woman, has been serving the Ogawa family for a long time.

Deushi Rui - young woman, between Rika's and Seka's ages; has not made an appearance yet.

Father's Men: Seitaro Kino - Mr. Ogawa's right-hand man, probably about Kakashi's age. Not a man of many words.

Reviews inspire me. :)


	4. Meeting Kakashi

I LIIIIIIVVVEEEE!

Ahem. I'm excited to announce...A NEW CHAPTER! I know it's been like a year; I do apologize to those of you who loyally come back and read my stuff whenever I update. The muse does as the muse pleases, and I've been having to "adult" more and more lately.

Disclaimer Reminder 1: I own no part of the Naruto Universe and I make no money in any way, shape, or form from this.

Disclaimer Reminder 2: If you find this chapter takes itself a bit too seriously, remember the genre and the title. ;)

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**Chapter 4: Meeting Kakashi**

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It was Night Three of Team 7's stay at our house, and I sat alone in my (Seka's) bedroom, brushing her (our?) hair and thinking about everything that had happened. Well, more accurately I guess, everything that HADN'T happened.

I hadn't met Kakashi face-to-face yet. I'd always guessed Kakashi would be tall. And very pale. And from the 2 passing glimpses I'd seen of him around the compound for the past two days, I was half right.

He was tall, though not unusually so. Even with his slight slouch, he seemed to give off an air of quiet confidence. As for the paleness, only his hair was as pale as I'd imagined. It was very white, and though not quite the "mop" that animation looked like, he wore it spiked so that it did actually stand up. His skin was a non-descript tone somewhere between fair and tan; he could blend in pretty easily into any group he chose.

I hadn't seen much of Naruto, Sakura, or Sasuke in the past two days either. It seemed they were being kept very busy – their breakfasts were before I got up (and the maids had apparently been given orders NOT to wake me up), and their lunches and dinners had been packed for them to take along. I was beginning to feel cheated out of the hostess responsibilities I had sooo been looking forward to.

All I'd had was the youngest maid's occasional giggle about Sasuke – she was quite impressed by him, and I couldn't blame her. They were all a bit intimidated by the captain, though, and didn't want to talk about him for fear he would hear them.

My dear, lovely, happy-go-lucky genie must have planned this torture.

Anyway, like I said, this was Team 7's third night staying in our house, and I had seen my chance just before bedtime. Rika-chan, the youngest maid, had been preparing the evening tea for the guests, and Tamae-san (the oldest maid) had called her away from the kitchen for a moment.

I had quickly scribbled a note, folded it, and slipped it under the teapot. There was no time to sweat the formalities; I'd been a good little Seka, dutifully and painstakingly watching everything I said, and my patience was wearing thin.

_Dear Captain,_

_If you have the time, I would be honored if you would join me for tea tonight._

_Sincerely, _

_Ogawa Seka_

After that, I had retired to my bedroom, sneaking an extra cup into the folds of my kimono and carrying my usual tea set with me.

Now, I was absently brushing my hair as I waited. I hoped I hadn't made a mistake, or been too forward in my note.

I'd wrapped the teapot in a clean cloth to try to keep it warmer longer, since I had no idea when (or if) Kakashi would show up. I'd left the sliding door to the inner garden cracked a bit, just in case he wondered which room he should come to or questioned whether I still wanted him to come.

_Yes! Yes! YES! _ The dirty side of my mind – maybe my equivalent of "inner Sakura," if non-characters can have those? – was grinning devilishly. I hushed it; there was no need to make myself feel any more awkward than I was. (Well, at least not until AFTER his visit. If he was indeed going to visit.)

I was still wearing the same kimono I'd worn all day. It was pink and brown, and I was loving the way the style really hugged my new body's curves. It was snug, but in a pampered princess kind of way. The Ogawa family must be fairly wealthy, just going by Seka's wardrobe, because of the wide variety of options she had and the high quality of the fabric. Quite the contrast from what I imagined a flack jacket would feel like under my fingertips…

"Ogawa-san?"

I jumped a little bit in spite of myself, but managed to slap my hands over my hairbrush and pin it against my legs before it could clatter to the floor. He really was as silent as a ninja! I almost smacked myself in the head for that thought, but instead I focused on regaining my composure. I stood up and turned to face him, smoothing out my kimono as I did.

"Um, Kakashi-san, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, um…" I haphazardly placed the brush on the dresser, hoping it looked like a graceful move. "Please, call me Seka. Thank you for coming. I know you must be very tired after such a long day."

He rubbed the back of his neck, and for such a built man, he looked surprisingly childish. I could almost see the sheepish grin under his mask (which, by the way, was just as infuriating in person as it ever was in the animated version).

"It seemed rude of me not to meet the hostess after being here for two full days," he offered diplomatically, and I resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Diplomacy I could handle.

"Not at all. I'm sure my father is a very demanding client."

"Most successful businessmen are," he answered, and I could only smile. Then his sheepish grin settled into a relaxed but professional gaze that gave me the distinct feeling of being evaluated. "Though I am a bit surprised that you asked to see me." I could almost hear him thinking, _Your father gave me the impression that you were afraid of us, and yet you summon the captain, in secret, to your bedroom, alone?_

This was it. Sink or swim. Find the balance of "just honest _enough_" to find out about what was going on with the festival, while at the same time, not letting him—an experienced interrogator and intelligence operative—realize that I had something to hide.

I evaded the veiled question by gesturing toward the tea setting I'd brought in, and he politely followed my lead. We sat on opposite sides of a dainty little settee, and I poured tea for each of us in Seka's most proper style (which unfortunately meant no "accidental" finger brushing when I handed him his cup). He accepted it in an equally proper style.

"I'm in a similar position to you, I think. Two full days and I hadn't even met our most senior guest." He just looked at me with his one uncovered eye, and I cracked a smile. "And, I must admit, I was curious."

"On that point, I'm not sure we've been properly introduced."

I felt my face flush slightly – that was probably Seka's influence on the manners side of things, and my own embarrassment about knowing much, much more about him than he realized.

"I'm afraid you're right," I admitted. "I'm Ogawa Seka, lady of the house. Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner."

He waved his hand dismissively. "This is a strange situation all around, I think," he said with a nod to my bedroom we were sitting in, and I blushed a little harder. "I believe you know a bit about me already."

A person of weaker constitution (or who had been a more honest teenager back in the day) might have flinched at this, afraid that Kakashi already knew exactly how much I knew about him. For all my fretting and worrying over the past couple of days, though, I am proud to say that my (albeit slightly flushed) poker face didn't falter.

"It's a hostess's duty to know all of her guests' names, at the very least," I answered, pouring another cup of tea for each of us.

"Hn." He took a sip of the steaming tea through the mask. I tried not to stare at the ridiculousness of it. How had he already finished one cup and I hadn't even noticed him drinking it?

A couple of beats of silence passed. After my hour of wavering between making this a friendly social invitation or keeping it as businesslike as possible, now was the time to choose.

I chose to aim somewhere in the middle of the two. "Kakashi-san, may I be honest with you?"

His one eye blinked slowly and he tilted his head just a little. Was that what surprise looked like on him? "Please."

I took my teacup in both hands and let my gaze alternate between it and Kakashi. "I know my father probably gave you a certain impression of me, and specific orders to stay away from me." I paused in case the Copy Nin wanted to respond, but he said nothing. "It's true that I've never met any shinobi before, but it's also true that there have never been any big problems at the festival before."

"Hn."

Which direction to go from here? '_Please tell me why my father hired you, but please also allow me to convince you not to tell him that I was prying into his business?_' seemed a bit too…just a bit too something.

"I've never questioned anything he's done; I have no part in whatever his business dealings are. But the festival is very special to me. Can you understand that?" I asked, with some true nerves showing through.

"And you want to know if the festival is in any danger, but you can't ask your father directly?"

Dang, he was picking it up quick. I'd have to be that much more careful about what I put down. I let a little of the tension go out of my shoulders. "Something like that. I do have more faith in your team than my father may have expressed to you, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't on my mind."

Kakashi set down his teacup again, and I noticed it was suddenly empty again. I refilled it one more time, followed by my own.

"I can understand. The traditions we grow up with become more and more precious as we get older."

It was my turn to "hn," and I savored every nanosecond of the syllable. Kakashi's eye seemed to smirk at the sound. He took the prompt and continued.

"We've only just begun to make our plans and arrangements for our mission here. I won't burden you with the details of it, but I assure you, you have nothing to worry about. The festival will go on."

_Please burden me with the details of it!_ I wanted to blurt out, but (fortunately) Seka's gentle nature stopped me again. "I'm glad to know it," I said instead. "And, though I'm sure my father has made his opinion clear to you, please allow me to speak for myself when I say I do have confidence in your team."

Kakashi looked a bit surprised, but only for a moment. He covered it gracefully. "Thank you," he said.

"The biggest question bothering me, though, is about why my father has hired you in the first place if there's no actual danger to the festival."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. Was I getting too weird? Too nosy? Too skilled at asking diplomatically veiled questions for Seka's reputation? Time to backpedal.

"I mean, this IS a break from tradition, and I don't believe my father would do that without a really strong reason." I shrugged selfconsciously at my teacup. "I guess I'm just hoping to put my mind a little more at ease. As you said, the traditions we grow up with…"

His eyebrow relaxed a millimeter into what I hoped was a slightly more amused position. "Hn."

"If you can't tell me, I do understand."

As I waited for him to answer, I noticed that his cup on the table was just a few sips away from empty once again. How the hell was he doing that? I refilled it, hoping he would break the silence before it finished pouring.

"Do you know who the headline performer is this year?"

I sifted Seka's memories. She had definitely not been told directly, but she had heard it was going to be someone really popular right now. The two younger housemaids had narrowed their guess down to 2 current pop stars.

"Suda Kado or Sado Beni?"

"Hn," he answered cryptically. "Did you know that Sado Beni always requests extra security when she books a show?"

So that was it. It made sense – so many famous people get so security conscious, and rightly so with all the paparazzi and creeps in the world.

"I…no, I didn't know that," I said, smiling. "So Beni-Chan is going to be this year's hostess and guest performer?"

Kakashi raised both hands, feigning innocence. "What? I never said that. In fact, I have strict orders NOT to tell you why we're here…"

I sipped my tea, still smiling demurely. He definitely seemed like he wanted to be as helpful as possible, and there didn't seem to be much left to say. We had both gone against my father's instructions – me by inviting him to my room for this polite interrogation, and him by coming and answering my questions relatively freely.

Something wasn't sitting quite right with me, though.

Kakashi had said he had strict orders not to tell me why his team was here. I couldn't help thinking that he had actually obeyed those orders, both to the letter and in spirit. He'd found a way to imply the nature of the assignment, and sweet compliant Seka would think he was simply being her friend by "accidentally" insinuating the answer to the question she'd asked. She wasn't the type to question it beyond that.

However, the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Father wouldn't have hired shinobi at a simple request for more security – he seemed to have plenty of his own men whom he trusted significantly more than Kakashi's team. And what about the increased activity Seka had noticed over the past few weeks? Was it all purely festival business? If so, it wouldn't have been so hush-hush, even if the singer's identity WAS kept secret. (After all, the big "opening day reveal" was part of the festival tradition.) And besides, most preparations usually happened in the village square, not here at the Ogawa house.

There was definitely more to the story. Kakashi had implied the cover story. (Which, incidentally, was very diplomatic of him. Seka would think they were even, because she'd broken the rule about talking to him and he'd broken the rule about not telling her his mission.) In doing so, he'd planted a seed to see if sweet compliant Seka would bother "looking underneath the underneath" to figure out the real reason.

So now, I had to decide whether she would or not. _And really,_ I thought with a grin, _what kind of a no-brainer is that?_

It didn't take me long to come to this conclusion. The time I took to ponder it all was exactly the same time it took to finish our last few sips of tea.

"Thank you for…well, for what you haven't told me, I suppose," I said, still smiling. "I just have one more thing to say, Kakashi-san…" He seemed to smile curiously, and my heart sped up. "If there is anything at all that I can do to help your team with the festival or your mission, please let me know. I want to do anything and everything I can."

"I don't think your father would approve of that," Kakashi reminded me gently. His empty cup clicked down onto the settee and he stood to leave the same way he'd come in.

I nodded, hoping it would look thoughtful. "I'm sure you're right about that, so I'd prefer for this conversation to stay between you and me." _As if that wasn't already necessary. Ha._

"Naturally." He also seemed to pick up on the irony, and his quick but deliberate glance around my bedroom made my heart speed up a little more. That quick glance was the stuff my fantasies are absolutely made of! _Later. Reminisce LATER._

"But if there's a concern large enough that he hired a team of shinobi instead of using his usual men, then there must be something truly unusual going on. And it's no benefit to anyone for me to stay blind to it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Was he smirking?

I stood up to see him out as he was turning toward the outside door to leave. "And Kakashi-san," I breathed, nervous again. His shoulders looked a little broader from the back—why do I have to be so into guys with nice shoulders and arms?

"Hn?" he asked, and I could almost swear there was a slight teasing edge to it.

I smiled, but didn't bow. I didn't want things to stay too formal between us, after all. "It's been an honor to meet you."

He nodded again, and then he was gone. I retrieved my hairbrush and retreated to my fantasies – THE Copy Ninja, in all his masked, live-action glory, had been _here, secretly, in my bedroom!_

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Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts.


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